Christopher Phin, an editor at MacUser magazine, has written a great post to help out editors on attending briefings and get the most out of it. He suggested number of ways on what to prepare before the briefing; what to do during the briefing; and what to follow up after the briefly. I like his tip regarding networking:
Make yourself known: Briefings are often a valuable opportunity to network with senior personnel from the companies you deal with. As well as some of the tips below, one of the best ways of making yourself known is to engage with speakers as they’re presenting. Many journalists stare at their pad or look around the room, or worse, chat amongst themselves. You should keep ‘offering’ to make eye contact with the speaker. Even more effective than this is nodding subtly as the speaker makes points; they’ll often actually use questioning intonation (called HRT) or specifically ask for affimation. Your nodding after these ‘questions’ serves to calm the speaker’s nerves, and you’ll also find that he or she will increasingly begin speaking directly to you, without ever making a conscious decision so to do. This helps you remain memorable without being too obvious or obnoxious.
10 ways to get the most from briefings – [Receding Hairline]
